India's veteran pace bowler Javagal Srinath has announced his retirement from first-class cricket, according to London's Daily Telegraph.

Srinath reportedly made his announcement at Durham's Stockton ground in England.

Srinath first played in the English county circuit in 1995 when he represented Gloucestershire and took 87 championship wickets at 19.09 apiece.

Last summer, representing Leicestershire, he again topped the bowling averages with 30 victims in five games, including a hat-trick against Surrey.

Srinath, who has picked 236 Test wickets in 67 matches, said he might continue to play limited-overs cricket after a break.

Last June, Srinath had announced his retirement from Test cricket after a disappointing series defeat in the West Indies, but was cajoled out of retirement by skipper Sourav Ganguly and played the Test series against the West Indies at home and also the Test series against New Zealand in New Zealand.

The Karnataka bowler produced a hat-trick on his first-class debut against Hyderabad and then took two wickets off successive balls in the second innings as well. He finished the 1989-90 season with 25 wickets from six matches and took 20 the next year.

In a bold move, Srinath, then a tearaway fast bowler, was picked for the tour of Australia where he marked his Test debut at Brisbane with 3-59.

The 33-year-old, who has entered into a contract with the Gauteng Cricket Board in Johannesburg, will help with the development of fast bowlers in the province and tutor youngsters in the art of fast bowling.

Besides coaching, Srinath, scheduled to arrive in Johannesburg in mid-September, will also play for the Highveld Strikers Cricket Club.

First-class debut: 1989-90 (for Karnataka)
First-class career:

M	Inns	No	Runs	Avg	HS	100	50	Ct
146	190	34	2275	14.58	76	-	7	62
Balls	Runs	Wkts	Avge	Best	5w	10w
28456	13957	530	26.33	9-76	23	3

Test debut: v Australia at Brisbane, 1991-92
Highest Test score: 76 v New Zealand at Hamilton, 1998-99
Best Test bowling in an innings: 8-86 v Pakistan at Calcutta, 1998-99
Best Test bowling in a match: 13-132 v Pakistan at Calcutta, 1998-99
Test career:

M	Inns	No	Runs	Avg	HS	100	50	Ct
67	92	21	1009	14.21	76	-	1	22
Balls	Runs	Wkts	Avge	Best	5w	10w
15104	7196	236	30.49	8-86	10	1

LOI debut: v Pakistan at Sharjah, 18-10-1991
Highest LOI score: 53 v South Africa at Rajkot, 29-10-1996
Best LOI bowling: 5-23 v Bangladesh at Dhaka, 10-1-1998
LOI career:

M	Inns	No	Runs	Avg	HS	100	50	Ct
229	121	38	883	10.64	53	1	19	32
Balls	Runs	Wkts	Avge	Best	5w	R/o
11935	8847	315	28.09	5-23	3	4.45

Last five years in Ranji Trophy

Year	M	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Avg	5i	10m	Best
1988-99	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1999-00	1	144	64	3	21.33	-	-	2-14
2000-01	1	156	105	4	26.25	-	-	4-86
2001-02	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002-03	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Statistics: Mohandas Menon

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 16 Sub: Bad for the country It is a shame that our international cricketers do not care for the game back home. Srinath would be coaching boys in England. It would ... Posted by Vikrant Sub: Srinath - The One and Only You were NOT a McGrath as a Bowler or as a sledger. You were simply Yourself - a dedicated Team MAN ! That is why ... Posted by C.N. Shankar Sub: Stats are wrong !!!!! The Stats are Wrong !!! How could one have Highest of 53 and score 1 hunderd and 19 fifties ( 19 * 50 + 1 ... Posted by Ananth Sub: Re: Srinath retires from First Class Cricket Hi Your article says that Srinath played in the test series in New Zealand. Actually Srinath played just the one-dayers and not Tests. I thought ... Posted by Vikram Sub: Error!! There is error in Srinath's LOI batting numbers, which shows one century and several 50s, while his highest is 53 and total runs less than ... Posted by Kuntal Shah